Needle-threader.



'UNITED STATES atented Decemloer 8, 193.

PATENT OFFICE.

NEEDLE-TH READER.

SPEGIFIGATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 746,091, dated December 8, 1903.

v Application led November 6. 1902. Serial o. 130.326. (No model.)

'To all whom tlm/tty concern/.-

Be it known that LWILLIAM A. JOHNSTON,

a citizen of the United States,residing at Rural Retreat, in the county of Wythe and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Needle-Threader, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to needle-threaders. The object of the invention is in a rapid and certain manner and without the necessity of exercise of great carein positioning the needle within the device to effect threading of needles irrespective of their size and to sever the thread when the desired -length hasl been drawn from the spool or cop.

With these and other objects in View, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and combination of parts of a needle-threader, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, and in which like bodying my invention. 4o

numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, there are illustrated three forms of embodiment of the invention,each capable of carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood that the elements therein exhibited may be varied or changed as to shape, proportion, and exact manner of assemblage without departing from the spirit thereof.

In `the drawings, Figure 1 is a viewin perspective of a needle-threader constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a View in vertical longitudinal section through the head of the form shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a threader em- Fig. 4 is a perspecview of another form of the invention. Fig.

y 5 is a view in horizontal section, taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

The devices herein illustrated are allY on a greatly-enlarged scale in order to render clear an understanding of the devices.

Referring to the drawings, and to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, there is exhibited a needlethreader embodying a handle 1 and a head 2. It is to be noted at this point that the forms herein given to the device are not arbitrary and may be varied or changed according to the taste of the manufacturer. The head is providedl with two funnel-shaped orifices 3 and 4, respectively disposed at right angles to each other, the orifice 3 merging into a channel or needle-guide 5,.the lower terminal of which terminates a slight distance above the terminal of the orifice 4, whereby the lower wall of the latter. extends beneath the orifice 5 to present a shoulder 6,upon which the head of the. needle will rest, thus to hold the eye in exactalinement with the inner terminal of the orifice 4. One side of the head is cut away transversely, as shown at 7, and the guide 5 is disposed at nearly a right angle to the orifice 4, the cutting away of the side of the head 7 serving to remove a length of the lower portion of the channel 5 sufficient to enable the thread readily to be passed through the needle-eye. The inner terminal of the orifice 4 at its upper side presents a thread-cutting edge 8, which will effect ready severing of the thread when the desired length has been removed from the spool 'or cop. .When the needle is placed within the orice 3, it will dropdown therein, and the head will rest upon the shoulder 6, and by coaction between either of the dat faces of its eye and the wall of the guide it will be turned to bring the eye exactly in alinement with the inner terminal of the orilice 4; butin the event that it does not seat itself in the manner above stated it will be turned bythe impact of the thread being pushed through the orifice.

vIn the form of embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 3 the needle-receiving orifice 9 is conical throughout its entire length, and its apex registers with that of the threadreceiving orifice 4; but the same principle obtains in this form of the invention as that shown in Figs. l and 2 as to the coaction between the two orifices in effecting the threading of the needle and the severing of the thread. In addition the head is provided with ashank 10, which is adapted to be insertedl in the spindle-opening of a spool, thus to keep the spool and the threader always together.'

In the form of embodiment ofl the inven- ICO transverse groove l2 in the side of the orifice at an angle to its outer Wall, presenting thereby a knife-edge I3, which will be thoroughly effective in severing the thread. This forni of embodiment of the invention is also provided with a shank 14, adapted to engage an orifice in a block l5, the block being also provided With a second orifice to receive a shank 16 to be engaged by the spindle-opening of a spool of cotton. By this arrangeinent the block, With its attached spool and needle-threader, may be readily moved from place to place and will always be convenient for use.

In the use of either of the forms illustrated the needle is dropped through the vertical orifice and its eye is brought opposite the apex of the needle-receiving opening, and the thread is then passed through the eye of a needle in a manner Well understood. The needle is then drawn from the device, and when the desired length of thread has been taken from the spool by stopping the rotation ofthe spool and drawing upon the thread the latter will be severed by the cutting devices described.

While all of the threaders herein exhibited are shown as arranged for horizontal threading, it is to be understood that the same may be efected vertically by holding the device in a position at right angles to that illustrated.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. A needle threader comprising a head having cone shaped needle receiving and thread-receiving openings disposed at substantially right angles to each other and intersecting at their apices, one of the Walls of the thread-receiving opening constituting a thread-cutter, the Wall of the head being cnt away transversely for the purpose herein described.

2. A needle-threader comprising a head having cone-shaped needle -receiving and thread-receiving orifices disposed at substantially rightl angles to each other and intersecting at theirapices, one of the walls ofthe thread receiving opening constituting a th read-cutter, and a stern associated with the head to adapt it for connection with a suitable support.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM A. JOHNSTON.

Witnesses:

Jon GRIFFITH, ROBERT S. SHRIVER. 

